Withdrawal of Revisions to the Water Quality Planning and Management Regulation and Revisions to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program in Support of Revisions to the Water Quality Planning and Management Regulation

Today's action withdraws the final rule entitled "Revisions to the Water Quality Planning and Management Regulation and Revisions to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program in Support of Revisions to the Water Quality Planning and Management Regulation ("the July 2000 rule") published in the Federal Register on July 13, 2000. The July 2000 rule amended and clarified existing regulations implementing a section of the Clean Water Act (CWA) that requires States to identify waters that are not meeting applicable water quality standards and to establish pollutant budgets, called Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), to restore the quality of those waters. The July 2000 rule also amended EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ("NPDES") regulations to include provisions addressing implementation of TMDLs through NPDES permits. The July 2000 rule has never become effective; it is currently scheduled to take effect on April 30, 2003. Today, EPA is withdrawing the July 2000 rule, rather than allow it to go into effect, because EPA believes that significant changes would need to be made to the July 2000 rule before it could represent a workable framework for an efficient and effective TMDL program. Furthermore, EPA needs additional time beyond April 30, 2003, to decide whether and how to revise the currently-effective regulations implementing the TMDL program in a way that will best achieve the goals of the CWA. The withdrawal of the July 2000 rule will not impede ongoing implementation of the existing TMDL program. Regulations that EPA promulgated in 1985 and amended in 1992 remain in effect for the TMDL program. EPA has been working steadily to identify regulatory and nonregulatory options to improve the TMDL program and is reviewing its ongoing implementation of the existing program with a view toward continuous improvement and possible regulatory changes in light of stakeholder input and recommendations.